Description

The trailer for Tapestries of Hope.

There is a myth in Africa unraveling the very fabric of the country and devastating young girls lives. After a chance meeting with human rights activist Betty Makoni, author/filmmaker Michealene Cristini Risley travels to Zimbabwe determined to document the shocking atrocities Betty Makoni and her organization, The Girl Child Network, witness daily. In doing so, Risley confronts a monstrous practice ravaging young women in this impoverished country. Highly respected traditional healers with enormous sway to reinforce historical cultural beliefs, including the magical power of female blood, are counseling men to have sex with virgins to cure AIDS. This is a leading cause of the increased spread of the HIV virus in Zimbabwe, making it one of the top HIV/AIDS-infected countries in the world. The crisis only deepens, as young girls who are raped become infected and transfer the disease to their unborn children. In a country with little or no available medicines due to confiscation by dictator Robert Mugabe, and a state controlled media creating a choke hold, Betty Makoni and her Girl Child Network empower these girls to find their voices and the courage to speak of the violence inflicted upon them. Arrested and imprisoned while filming, barred from shooting further footage, and deported from the country for attempting to tell this important story, the filmmakers refuse to be silenced. They return to the United States and lobby the U.S. government and the world community to intervene in this grievous situation.